There was a lot of expectation about the race in Epping, New
Hampshire. For a few years we had heard that NHRA was
looking at putting a national event at the historic track and each year those
rumors came and went without any announcement. I was there two years ago and
was told by the track officials that they were close and that the announcement
could come soon. It eventually was announced and for the past year speculation
ran high about how the track would handle the event and how the fans in the New England area would react. Well, after three beautiful
days of weather and three great days of racing I think the answer is that the
track handled things very well and the fans were treated to some good racing. Although,
as I often say, in the interest of fair reporting I was surprised that the
fields weren't a bit bigger in the Mello
Yello (professional) classes and I was stunned that Erica Enders-Stevens wasn't part of the show. She is one of the
brightest stars on the NHRA scene, she has a very competitive car and yet she
wasn't able to find enough funding to attend the race, a race that eventually
had only fifteen Pro Stock cars. When someone of her caliber isn't able to go
to a race because of lack of funding I think it's a shame. When Danica Patrick (who is on the front
page of NASCAR.com and is 27th
in the points as I write this) can get millions of dollars in sponsorships and
a lot of television exposure for what she has done on the track, and Erica, who
could contend for the championship can't even get to a race, it's a shame. I
could say the same for Melanie Troxel
who is also on the sidelines. She is another one who has plenty of talent and
all the tools needed to succeed and yet she can't get a ride. Even with drag
racing putting on great shows in new markets we have to find a way to get and
keep some of our best and most marketable drivers on the tour. I hope Erica
returns soon because she adds a lot to the sport and to every race she attends.

Courtney Force celebrates second this season.

Anytime you have John
Force in a final round the fans (generally) will consider the race a
success. Anytime you have Courtney Force
in a final round the fans (most of them) will consider the race a success. So
you can imagine how the fans were feeling when John and Courtney squared off
for all the marbles at the Epping, New
Hampshire race this past weekend. When they lined up
against each other did you know
that Courtney became the 45th different driver that John has faced
in a final round in his great career? His other daughter, Ashley, was one of them and when John lost on Sunday it meant that
he is now 0-3 against his daughters in final round encounters.Even though he
didn't win John did qualify number one and set low elapsed time, and on the
heels of his performance a week earlier it sure looks like the champ is back. Did you know that the number one
spot was the 142nd of his career, and since he did it at a track
where the NHRA was racing for the first time it also marked the twenty-ninth
different national event venue where John has qualified at the top of the field?
His consecutive final rounds have moved John into fifth place in the standings
and that's the highest he has been all year..Team Force earned bragging rights over Team Schumacher this week since John beat Ron Capps and Courtney beat Jack
Beckman in the semi-finals. In case you are keeping score that makes the

Dave Richards' father Gary (right) with his car and friend
Joe Diemehe.

tally 9 -8 for the year with the slight edge going to Team Schumacher, but as
we all know there is a lot of racing yet to go in the year....Dave Richards made his NHRA national
event debut, and for his efforts he got to run John Force in the first round. Did you know that Dave became the
344th different driver to qualify for an NHRA Funny Car race? And
while John and is daughter were slugging it out for the championship I'm sure
Dave's father, Gary Richards, was
just as proud of his son for what he did in New England. Did you know that Gary
raced a Funny Car called the "Shadow"
in the early 1970's? It was a pretty good car too, with a Logghe chassis and all the good parts inside. Congratulations to
Dave for his first venture into the Funny Car ranks and I look forward to
seeing him at some more races in the near future..Matt Hagan retained the point's lead and he did manage to set top
speed of the meet for the Funny Cars. That's two top speeds in the last three
races for Matt and when you're making that kind of power you are going to win a
lot of races.

Allen Johnson celebrates win.

Allen Johnson
moved a little closer to Mike Edwards
and first place when he beat Shane Gray
in the Pro Stock final round. Not only did AJ win but he did it the way every
driver likes to, on a holeshot. Did
you know that this was the forty-eighth holeshot win of Allen's career
and the fifth that he had in a final round? By the way, do you know how many
holeshot wins he had all of last year? Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada. So now he not
only has a good car but he is driving well and that could spell repeat. It
could, but as we all know there is a lot of racing yet to go in the year. Or
did I say that already?....Speaking of holeshots Tom Martino had one in the first round when he beat V. Gaines. Did you know that was the twenty-seventh holeshot win for
Tom and that is in ninety-nine winning rounds? Wow, now that's impressive and it
makes you wonder what Tom could do if he ever had the best car in the field. It

John Gaydosh

was nice to see Tom in action again and it's a shame he couldn't make it back
for the second round. Did you know
the last time Tom won a race was in 2006 when he won the Gatornationals and he did
that in the back-up car of V. Gaines, the guy he beat in round one on Sunday...Shane
Gray didn't win but he is still having a very good year. The final round
appearance was his fourth of the year (including the 4-Wide event) and he is
right in the middle of the points and it looks like he has a car that can make
some noise once we get to the "Countdown.".Jeg
Coughlin made a little Jeg Coughlin history on his birthday in New England. After qualifying number one for the
nineteenth time in his career Jeg, by virtue of the fact that there was a short
field, got a bye run in the opening round. Did
you know that in his entire career, and that spanned 751 rounds at the
start of eliminations, this was the first time he ever had a bye run? Now I'm
not talking about a run where the opponent broke, I'm talking about a run where
there was never anyone scheduled to be in the other lane and I find it amazing
that this was the first such run of his career..John Gaydosh made his first NHRA start after thirty-seven attempts,
and in the process did you know
that he became the 424th driver to qualify for an NHRA Pro Stock
race.

John Hall celebrates his first career win.

The race in New England was
new and so were the faces in the Pro Stock Motorcycle final round. Adam Arana, the third member of that
racing family, went to his first final round while Connecticut native, John Hall, also made his first trip to the money round. Did you know that this was the
first time since the Denver
race in 2003 that both competitors in the bike class were in their first final
round? At that race it was Blaine Hale
beating Mike Berry for the trophy
while this time around it was John getting the win when Adam jumped the start
and fouled out. Did you know
that with his win John becomes the 41st driver to win in the Pro
Stock Motorcycle class?......Michael Ray
paced the field when he ran 6.832 and in the process he became just the
thirty-fourth rider to qualify number one in the bike class. He joins other
notables like Byron Hines, Doug Horne and Reggie Showers as riders with one top spot to their credit...Like
all of the other top qualifiers Michael failed to get the win and that seems to
be a pattern lately, but I'm sure that will change since, as we all know, there
is a lot of racing yet this year..Almost as surprising as the fact that we had
a new winner and a new number one guy was the fact that both Eddie Krawiec and Andrew Hines lost in the first round. As unusual as it is for one
of them to lose early it's almost unheard of for both of them to bow out in the
opening stanza. Did you know
that last time they both lost in round one (other than at a 4-Wide race) was at
Indianapolis in
2009?

Spencer Massey celebrates his second win this season.

Team Schumacher came out on top in the dragster class when Spencer Massey beat Shawn Langdon in the final round. That
race pitted the two top teams in the class, "Team Don" and "Team Al-Anabi" against each other. In
case you're keep score this year it's Team Al Anabi in front by an 8-5 margin
over Tony Schumacher, Spencer Massey
and Antron Brown. Actually, that
total only includes Tony and Spencer since, as hard as it may be to believe, did you know that neither Shawn
nor his teammate, Khalid alBalooshi,
have raced Antron this year. But that will change, because as we all know there
is a lot of racing yet to take place this year...Since I mentioned Antron he is
going through a bit of a slump right now, isn't he? The defending champ
qualified in the bottom half of the field for the third time in as many races
and that just never happens, and when I say never I mean never. Did you know this was the first
time in his Top Fuel career that Antron had three races in a row where he was
in the bottom half of the field after qualifying? Hey even Don Garlits went through times like that and he turned out ok,
didn't he? AB and his team will be fine and going to a fast track like the one
in Joliet could
be just what they need to put one in the win column. By the way, even with
those little glitches the team is still in fourth place in the standings..Spencer's
win was the twelfth of his career and that ties him with Mike Dunn for nineteenth place on the Top Fuel win list. Did you know that Spencer picked
up his wins in eighty-two races while Mike ran 170 races in the dragster class?

Anthony Bertozzi,
generally regarded as one of the best Lucas
Oil (sportsman) racers in the country finally added his name to a very
exclusive and select list when he "doubled" in New England.
Anthony beat Bob Horgan to win the
Stock Eliminator crown and then came back and beat Mark Markow in the Super Stock final.Mike Sawyer also had a shot at greatness when he made it to the
money round in both Super Street and Super Gas. Mike lost to Eddie Brooks in the 10.90 category and
then came back and won Super Gas at
the expense of Charlie Kenopic..While
Anthony was doubling and Mike was trying to, Dale Brand was making news at the Lucas Oil race in Cordova. In the
final round Dale met and beat Frank
Manzo and anytime you can do that you have had a good day, or a good
career. Even with the loss Frank's divisional record still stands at a gaudy
118-37. Not too bad, is it? Did you
know that Frank has never won a Division 5 race? Of course he probably
hasn't raced at more than two...At the same race Brandon Booher, whom we touted here a few weeks ago, beat Robin Samsel in the Top Alcohol
Dragster class..The Allstar gathering takes place this week in Joliet and
that's one thing that I will surely miss. Good luck to all the teams and we'll
have a little more about that on Thursday. By the way, did you know that Frank Manzo, the defending champ in Top
Alcohol Funny Car, will not be at the event, and did you know that Frank has been an Allstar in eighteen of
the past twenty years? He'll be missed this week and our loss is ADRL's gain since Frank will be in Martin, Michigan tuning
the Al Anabi Pro Mod car..And another round of congratulations to Jim and Annie Whiteley who both won at the Tulsa point's race.

Tammy and Jim Oberhofer Photo copyright 2013
teamkalitta.com

One more thing. With all of the excitement surrounding the New England event everyone in the drag racing world was
saddened to hear of the loss of Tammy Oberhofer.
While the Oberhofer brothers are very familiar to most race fans Tammy probably
was not even though she spent most of her life in and around the sport and was
a vital cog in the Kalitta Motorsports operation for many years. Tammy lost her
battle with cancer last week and that is a tremendous loss to the drag racing
community. I have known Tammy for many years and she was one of the nicest
people you would ever want to meet. Her great smile and pleasant personality
always made you feel welcome and she was a joy to be around. Obviously her loss
will be felt most by the Kalitta teams, but everyone who knew her shares their
loss. Visitation and services for Tammy will take place this Wednesday, June 26
at the Michigan Memorial Funeral Home,
30895 West Huron River
Drive
in Flat Rock, Michigan.
In lieu of flowers the family has asked that donations be made to one of
Tammy's favorite charities B.R.A.K.E.S.,
DRAW, Racers for Christ or Pandas
International. Our prayers go out to her husband, Jim, their daughter Ashley
and everyone in her immediate and racing families.